The GAA Football All-Ireland Senior Championship starts this weekend.
It’s one of the biggest competitions in all of Irish sport. The All-Ireland football final has traditionally been among the top five most-watched TV broadcasts of the year. But last year, the hurling final outstripped it by almost 150,000 viewers.
That’s because GAA football has had a problem that has been growing for more than 10 years; even its most ardent fans say the game has become boring.
Too defensive, too slow, too much hand passing, not enough flair.
Former Dublin manager Jim Gavin was called in to fix football, to come up with a new set of rules that would revitalise the game before it was too late. And he did. So are they working?
Irish Times sports writer Malachy Clerkin explains why the greatest shake-up in the history of GAA football was so direly needed and how he sees them working.
Presented by Bernice Harrison. Produced by Declan Conlon.
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